Profession – Revolutionist

18.06.2009

For the last 20 years, three revolutions have occurred in Georgia, and the fourth is currently aflame. The first revolution, the “National”, took place in 1988, during ‘Perestroyka’ and ended in a “tragic” victory on April 9, 1989. Two years later, the second revolution occurred. Its authors titled it “the Big December-January Democratic” revolution but historians titled it as a military coup and civil war.

Weathering the Storm: the significance of Armenia’s emerging middle class

07.06.2009

Richard Giragosian, Director of the Yerevan-based Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS).

Of the many negatives effects on Armenia from the global economic crisis, one of the most significant long-term obstacles for the economic development of Armenia relates to the impact on the country’s emerging middle class. Any threat to the emerging Armenian middle class is a serious concern, mainly due to its significance as a foundation for both society and the state.

Weathering the Storm: Statistics don’t lie

23.05.2009

Richard Giragosian,Director of the Yerevan-based Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS).

Speaking at a 13 May conference organized by the Union of Industrialists and Manufacturers, one of the largest business groups in Armenia, President Serzh Sarkisian launched a spirited defense of his government’s response to the global economic crisis, minimizing the impact of the crisis on Armenia and arguing that the economy is set to rebound.

Russian National Security Strategy

23.05.2009

More specifically, after a three-week delay, President Dmitry Medvedev has finally signed off on the new Strategy. Medvedev first announced the need to replace the old concept with a new strategy following the war with Georgia last August. In March 2009, the Security Council, headed by Nikolai Patrushev and charged with drafting the document, announced it had been completed. But on the very next day, Patrushev told journalists the council would take another month to “refine” the draft. According to media reports, the draft was approved at a council meeting on April 24, 2009 with Medvedev in attendance and has been awaiting his signature since.

Ruben Mehrabyan: South Caucasus facing drastic change?

09.05.2009

To all appearance, the South Caucasus is facing drastic change. Main actors – U.S. and Russia – intensified activities, what makes Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan reconsider their foreign policy. The question is whether the U.S. will succeed in pushing Russia out of the region, where it used to establish rules in the course of 20 years. Expert at Armenian Center for Political and International Studies, Ruben Mehrabyan comments on the situation to PanARMENIAN.Net.

Mikheil Saakashvili: Where Are My Western Friends?

15.04.2009

Anna Nemtsova: In the largest opposition demonstration in Georgia since November 2007— WHEN President Mikheil Saakashvili tested his democratic credentials by sending in riot police to quash the protests—tens of thousands of people filled Tbilisi’s leafy Rustaveli Avenue last Thursday to demand Saakashvili’s resignation.

Caucasus Geopolitics Today and Ten Years After

09.04.2009

Hikmet Hadjy-zadeh, President, FAR CENTRE, Baku, Azerbaijan

Ever since the integration of the USSR, the attention of scholars and of the international community has been constantly focused on domestic transformations in the newly formed independent republics and the way they integrate or conflict between themselves and with the neighbor countries of the former USSR.

Georgia’s National Security Review Process

03.04.2009

After the war with Russia this past August, Georgia realizes that it must take immediate steps to provide for its national security, but it also recognizes that there is a longer term need to develop solid national security plans to protect against very real foreign threats to its sovereignty.

Former president to run for Yerevan Mayor

28.03.2009

Following the recent announcement that the next rally to be staged by the extra-parliamentary opposition will be held just weeks before a crucial municipal election to decide the capital’s mayor, it perhaps comes as no surprise that the Armenian National Congress (ANC) will contest the vote.

Agenda for Armenian Foreign Policy 2009-2010

24.03.2009

This book is published by the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC) with support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. The views expressed in the book belong to the ACGRC experts and may differ from the official position of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.